Improvement in skates



UNITED STATES PATENT QFFIIGE.

WILLIAM H. MCDONALD, OF TITUSVILLE, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN SKATES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 175,260, dated March28, 1876; application filed January 27, 1876.

To all whom it may concern the art to which itpertains to make and useIt, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part othis specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in skates; and it consists in thearrangement and combination of parts that will be more fully describedhereinafter, whereby the skate can be quickly and readily attached anddetached from the foot, and all complicated fastenings done away with.

The accompanying drawings represent my invention.

a represents a skate of any desired construction, having the headedprojection or catch 0 extending rigidly up above its heelplate, at rightangles to the length of the skate, and which catches in the plate d,that is embedded in the heel of the boot or shoe. Projecting up abovethe foot-plate is another such catch, 0, but which, instead of beingimmovable like the other, has a suitable handle or thumb-plate, g,secured to its lower end, underneath the plate, by means of which it canbe readily turned around. Sccurrd to the under side of the plate is aflat spring. t, which catches in a notch, 2, formed in each end of thehandle g, and thus locks the catch in position. The outer sides of thestops 2 are rounded or beveled, as shown in Fig. 3, so that when thehandle g is turned the sprmg i will be raised upward bythe stop itself,and the moment the stop passes the spring the spring instantly springsdownward between the two stops, and thus forms a positive dead-lock uponthe handle to prevent it from being turned.

By means of this simple arrangement the catch e can be instantlyfastened or unfastened, and is held much more securely than can be doneby any jointed levers or similar devices.

To secure the skate to the foot, the skate is first turned at rightangles to the foot, and the catch 0 inserted in the heel, when the skateis turned in line with the 'foot. The catch 6 is then inserted in itsplate in the sole of the boot-and shoe, and then turned halfway aroundby means of the handle G until the spring catches in the notch 2 in oneend of the handle, when the catch will be locked in position at rightangles to the length of the foot.

Instead of the projection c, any other catch or fastening may be usedthat may be preferred, as one that catches in the back or sides of theheel will answer just as well.

I am aware thata rigid catch on the heel and a revolving catch on thefoot-plate are not new in themselves, and this I disclaim.

My invention consists in the arrangement and combination of the deviceshere shown and described, or their mechanical equivalent.

Having thus described my invention, I claim In a skate having a catchupon the heelplate, the combination of the revolving catch 6, having thethumb-plate 9 attached to its lower end, stops 2, and spring-catch i,the stops 2 being so formed that they will raise the catch 15 upward asthe thumb-plate is being turned, and then let it spring in between them,and thus form a dead-lock, substantially as shown and described.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing I have hereunto set my hand this18th day of January, 1876.

WILLIAM H. MCDONALD.

Witnesses:

DANIEL McZooK, WILLIAM D. WAID.

